Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog (writer)

Release Date:

17 January 1979 (France)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

Jonathan and Lucy live in Wismar and the Count wants a house there. Varna is a port on the Black Sea, close to Dracula's castle.

Plot Keywords:

Dracula | Vampire | Castle | Blood | Cross

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Klaus Kinski	...	Count Dracula
Isabelle Adjani	...	Lucy Harker
Bruno Ganz	...	Jonathan Harker
Roland Topor	...	Renfield
Walter Ladengast	...	Dr. Van Helsing
Dan van Husen	...	Warden
Jan Groth	...	Harbormaster
Carsten Bodinus	...	Schrader
Martje Grohmann	...	Mina
Rijk de Gooyer	...	Town official (as Ryk de Gooyer)
Clemens Scheitz	...	Clerk
Lo van Hensbergen
John Leddy	...	Coachman
Margiet van Hartingsveld	...	Vrouw
Tim Beekman	...	Coffinbearer

Also Known As:

Nosferatu the Vampyre (UK) (USA)
Nosferatu - fantôme de la nuit (France)
Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

107 min | USA:96 min (English version)

Country:

West Germany | France

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Spain:13 | Italy:VM14 (original rating) | Netherlands:16 (original rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:PG | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Trivia:

The exceedingly difficult slow-motion shots of a bat in flight were not shot by Werner Herzog's crew but borrowed from a scientific documentary.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When the captain of the ship is writing in his log he says they left the Caspian Sea, which is landlocked and nearly 1000 miles away from the port in Bulgaria where the voyage started.

Quotes:

Warden: The patient that came in yesterday is having a fit.
Van Helsing: Which one?
Warden: The one that bit the cow.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in No debes estar aquí (2002)

Soundtrack:

Der Ruf der Rohrflöte

Stunning!!

I just purchased this on DVD and its easily one of my favorite new disks. Included in the DVD masterpiece are: the English Version, the German Version with English subtitles, audio commentary by director Werner Herzog, 2 different US theatrical trailers, 1 Spanish theatrical trailer and even a making of the movie mini-feature!!! Very worth the money!!!

This is not an average movie by any means!!! It also appears to be a salute to the great German Expressionist films of the early 1900's. The story line is very intelligent and compassionate. The dialogue is spoken very soft and slowly. There is not very much action in the film, but the performances and cinematography are nothing short of breathtaking!!

Klaus Kinski plays a very convincing Dracula in this 1979 classic. His slow movements are almost hypnotizing!!! Just watch how he moves his hands!! They move so slow and very mysterious!! The guy who played the "nut case" was great!! The images of coffins, crucifixes, rats, and how rumors of the plague were spreading were brilliantly executed.

If you liked this film, you might want to check out 1992's "The Cronos" for another example of a compassionate and intelligent story about Vampires, but set in Mexico. Both films explore the "humanistic" internal conflict in vampires.